BUSFIN 4211: Corporate Finance
(Updated Dec 28th, 2015)
Class Schedule
Time: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 3:00-3:55 PM
Room: Schoenbaum Hall 305
Instructor
Mengmeng Dong (Mike)
Email: dong.180@osu.edu
Office: 606 Fisher Hall
Office Hours: Wed, Fri 4:00-5:00 PM (or by appointment)
Course Overview
This course covers topics in corporate finance such as capital budgeting, cost of capital, leasing and real options,
theories and applications of capital structure, corporate control, and corporate governance. An emphasis will be
placed on understanding the ideas behind capital budgeting and the cost of capital. Prereq: 3220 (620), BusMgt
2320 (330), and 2321 (331). Not open to students with credit for 721, 4210 or 4212.
Text (Required)
Berk, DeMarzo, and Harford (BDH), Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, 3rd edition, Pearson, 2015.
I will post lecture slides on Carmen (https://carmen.osu.edu)
Classroom Expectations
NO CELL PHONE OR COMPUTER USAGE ARE PERMITTED IN CLASS. Please silence your phones and keep
your computers closed in class.
Evaluation
2 Midterm Exams – 20% + 20% = 40%
Final Exam – 30%
Group Presentation – 15%
Homework – 15%
Total – 100%
Midterm Exams (40%): The midterm exam will be in-class on Feb 12th, 2016 and Mar 25th, 2016 and dates are
subject to change with prior notice.
Final Exam (30%): The final exam is on Apr 29th, 2016 from 4:00pm – 5:45pm. The exam will be cumulative.
Group Presentation (15%): Toward the end of semester, there will be in-class group presentations. Each group,
comprised of 4-5 students, will prepare a 15-20 minute presentation. Each group will assume an identity as a
potential CFO, choose a company to work for, valuate the company quantitatively using the discounted cash flow
(DCF) method based on your own sound assumptions and qualitative evaluations regarding the current state of the
company and future restructurings, and discuss how to finance the investment. 50% percent of the grade will be
based on the evaluation of the instructor, and 50% percent will be based on within-group peer evaluation.
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Homework (15%): There will be 4 homework assignments during the semester, each due for submission in-class.
Each assignment will be graded on a 0-2 scale:
Points
0
1
2
Grading Standard
No submission or less than 30% correct
More than 30% but less than 50% correct
More than 50% correct
Working in group is permitted, but each student must generate and submit his/her own work. It is strongly
encouraged to acknowledge helpful people in the homework but acknowledgement does not serve as an excuse for
copying others’ work. PLAGIARISM IN ANY WAY WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. Late submission is acceptable
but one point will be taken off the score achieved as penalty.
Tentative Calendar
Time value of money (BDH Chapter 4, 5, 6, 7).
Capital Budgeting (BDH Chapter 8, 9), HW1.
Calculating the Cost of Capital (BDH Chapter 12, 13), Mid-term I.
External Financing (BDH Chapter 14, 15), HW2.
Capital Structure (BDH Chapter 16), HW3.
Payout Policy (BDH Chapter 17), Mid-term II.
Corporate Governance, M&A (BDH Chapter 22), HW4.
In-class group presentations
Additional Topics, if time permits.
Administrative Points
Notification of Scores and Final Grades:
The results of any graded materials, including final grades, WILL NOT be given by the instructor to individual
students via phone, US post, e-mail, or verbally in person. Materials submitted for grading throughout the term will
be returned to students generally within one week after submission. Students with invalid absences on the return
date must retrieve their materials at the instructor’s office. Students may obtain their final grades online by accessing
the University Registrar link.
Office of Disability Services (ODS)
Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact
me privately to discuss your specific needs. Please contact the Office for Disability Services at 614-292-3307
in room 150 Pomerene Hall to coordinate reasonable accommodations for students with documented
disabilities.
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The stated schedule (shown above) and procedures in this course are subject to change in the event of extenuating
circumstances. Continued enrollment in this course will indicate that the student has carefully read the syllabus and
assumed responsibility for meeting course requirements.
Appeals:
Grading errors should be corrected. Appeals must be in writing within two weeks after the graded work is made
generally available—not the date you first look at it. If the end of term is within the two-week period, the two weeks
will start at the beginning of the next term. In general, the entire document will be checked for grading errors, and
correcting these could either raise or lower the overall score.
Standards of Integrity and Conduct:
Students are expected to be familiar with and abide by The Ohio State University’s code of student conduct,
available at http://studentaffairs.osu.edu/resource_csc.asp. In accordance with OSU Faculty Rule 3333-5-487, all
instances of academic misconduct will be reported to the Committee on Academic Misconduct, which recommends
appropriate sanctions to the Office of Academic Affairs.
Absences and Make-Ups:
It is the sole responsibility of absent students to obtain any missed class notes, handouts, etc. If you have a valid
family, health or safety emergency, please contact the instructor PRIOR to the assignment/exam deadline.
Unexcused absences or absences without valid reasons will result in a grade of zero (0) for any missed
assignments/exams.
Disenrollment:
University Rule 335-8-33 provides that a student may be disenrolled after the third instructional day of the
semester/term, the first Friday of the semester/term or the student’s second class session of the course, whichever
occurs first, if the student fails to attend the scheduled course without giving prior notification to the instructor.
As a reminder, The University and College expectation is that students spend two hours outside of class for every
hour spent in class. Since this course meets almost 3 hours per week, you should expect to spend around 6 hours
per week outside of class on course-related work.
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